Method for making secure a transaction with a payment card, and center for authorizing implementation of said method

Abstract: during the transaction with the payment card, establishment of a communication between the authorisation centre and the activation server, with the authorisation centre delivering an authorisation only if the payment card is activated. at the activation server, if the identifier received matches the stored activation identifier, activation of the payment card for the said limited period, when a payment with a payment card is envisaged, establishment of a communication with the activation server on the initiative of the card owner, and provision to the said server of an identifier obtained or generated independently of the card itself and aiming to activate the payment card for a limited period, It is notable for the use of an activation server in which is stored, in association with each payment card, an activation identifier, and the following stages: The invention proposes a method for the securing of a transaction effected by means of a payment card and involving communication with an authorisation centre. (end of abstract)

Method for making secure a transaction with a payment card, and center for authorizing implementation of said method description/claims

Brief Patent Description

Full Patent Description

Patent Application Claims

In general, this present invention concerns the field of transactions by card, and more specifically a method used to improve the security of transactions, especially financial transactions, effected by card.

It is known that a card transaction, whether it be of the bank, credit-payment or loyalty type, is most often used for just minutes each day, when in fact it is available for use around the clock.

This permanent activation is a weakness in the event of theft or loss, especially between the time when the holder notices the disappearance of his card and that when he reports it according to the procedures appropriate to the type of card.

This weakness is all the greater in the case of a payment on the Internet, or more generally in the case of a conventional remote sale by telephone, where there is no need to physically have the card, but only its numbers.

Fraudulent transactions on the Internet or in remote sales can therefore take place unbeknown to a card holder, who observes the fraud only on receipt of his statement. The user is protected in principle by commercial law, but the fraud exists and it is an impediment to the development of on-line transactions.

This present invention aims to overcome these drawbacks in the current practice, and to add a degree of security to conventional payments by card, without calling into question the existing security processes.

To this end, according to a first aspect, it proposes a method for the securing of a payment transaction effected by means of a payment card, where the said transaction involves communication with a payment authorisation centre, and which can be effected only when authorisation is given by the said centre, this method being characterised in that it includes the execution of an activation server in which, in association with each payment card, an activation identifier is stored, and the following stages:

- when a payment with a payment card is envisaged, establishment of a communication with the activation server, on the initiative of the card owner, and the provision to the said server of an identifier obtained or generated independently of the card itself and aiming to activate the payment card for a limited period,
- at the activation server, if the identifier received matches the stored activation identifier, activation of the payment card for the said limited period,
- during the transaction with the payment card, establishment of a communication between the authorisation centre and the activation server, with the authorisation centre delivering an authorisation only if the payment card is activated.

Certain aspects of this method, which are preferred but not limiting, are as follows:

- the communication with the activation server on the initiative of the owner is established via a communication link chosen from amongst the fixed telephone, the mobile telephone and the Internet.
- the activation identifier includes the calling number of a telephone device of the owner.